The FOLOU project has made substantial progress in consolidating its methodological framework and transitioning from development to validation, testing, and practical application. The project activities are structured around four interconnected pillars: Understanding, Measuring, Training, and Adopting.
Understanding: Food loss (FL) at the farm level is often driven by factors beyond farmers’ control, such as unpredictable weather, pests or market conditions. FOLOU identified 35 key causes by reviewing 76 scientific papers and unpublished reports and conducting 36 interviews with farmers and experts across five European countries to validate them. Results revealed important differences between the literature's reports and producers' perceptions, and an increased relevance of environmental drivers (e.g. climate variability and pests). FOLOU continued its work around the food loss definition to address uncertainty and align with EU policies and international standards (such as ISO/CEN) to help shape future regulation. The assessment of the impacts of FL on people, profits and the planet also advanced, with the development of a participatory framework and preliminary estimates developed at the country and commodity level.
Measuring: Major progress was made towards standardised, scalable FL measurement. The project developed a practical guide for measuring FL, which was tested by farmers and experts across different regions to ensure its relevance under real-world conditions, and was complemented by explanatory summaries and field guidelines. Another key achievement was the completion of the national and European Food Loss Registry, including its full IT infrastructure. This enables harmonised reporting of FL data from farms up to the EU level. FOLOU also tested six innovative tools for measuring and predicting FL (e.g. UAVs, AI, blockchain, smart devices), demonstrating their potential to improve accuracy and reduce monitoring costs. Preparatory work to measure FL across 32 countries was also completed.
Training: The FOLOU Learning Centre was established to strengthen skills and knowledge about FL. It developed five structured training courses aligned with the EIT Food Competency Framework. Two courses were successfully launched: Introduction to Food Loss and Quantification and Measuring of Food Loss, with over 1,100 learners completing them. The development of the remaining courses progressed, using a blended and social learning approach.
Adopting: Replication and uptake activities intensified with the launch of the Twinning Regions Programme, which paired regions to exchange information and good practices on reducing FL. Nine entities from 7 European regions took part in this. Clustering activities expanded, with active collaboration established with 19 projects and 7 platforms, including close cooperation with the WASTELESS project. FOLOU provided clearer guidelines to reduce FL and worked directly with policymakers to turn research into action.
